


Angel No More

by Keepcalmandbrewtea



Series: Tales from the Lair [3]
Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27389029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keepcalmandbrewtea/pseuds/Keepcalmandbrewtea
Summary: Once the mask is gone, illusions are shattered. Or are they?
Relationships: Christine Daaé & Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera
Series: Tales from the Lair [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026963
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	Angel No More

Curiosity killed the cat, wasn’t that what the old adage said? Christine should have reminded herself of it earlier on, before she decided it was time to lift the veil of mystery and see who was hiding behind the mask.

She was trapped.

Cold, hard, damp stone at her back; a cold, hard, unyielding body in front of her keeping her pinned to the wall. Her arms kept in place along her body by vise-like hands (weren’t they so gentle holding her when she first came to this place?), her face firmly pressed against his shoulder.

He was breathing hard like an enraged beast; she could feel the air rush past her ear from his mouth, his chest pressing against her with every inspiration. A self-preservation instinct she didn’t know she possessed kept on repeating “ _Keep still! Keep still!_ ” in her head.

“Why? Why did you have to do it? Wasn’t what I gave you enough?” His strained, hysterical voice questioned her over and over again. “You just had to see, didn’t you? You just had to see the face of the monster himself!”

An Angel no more, she was conscious of the fact that an all too real man was keeping her restrained with his whole body. The soft countenance he displayed when he took her through the mirror and led her down into the underbelly of the Opera was a thing of the past.

She started shaking like a leaf, her legs almost giving up their support. Were it not for the man keeping her pinned to the wall she would certainly be on the floor. “Please – please don’t kill me!”

He inhaled sharply and froze, still as the wall at her back. He slowly turned his head towards her, his lips barely grazing her temple. “Kill you?”

All of a sudden, she felt his whole body slacken against hers. His hands left her arms and slipped to the wall behind her at her shoulder level. His embrace was even more enveloping than before, shocking in its impropriety. The confession of a penitent man whispered in her ear with a voice so velvety that it sent shivers down her spine. “I could never kill you, Christine. Don’t you know how much you mean to me?” Desperation then tinged his voice. “I never meant for you to see this…”

A single drop of wetness hit her collarbone and Christine startled, eyes widening. _Is he crying?_

“This _plague_ of a face – it ruins everything… everything! I wanted to care for you. I wanted to give you beautiful things. I wanted to share my music with you. And now that you’ve seen me, you’ll never want to have anything to do with me.”

The words hung heavy around them. 

A twinge of sorrow clutched at Christine’s heart. Fear slowly released its hold on her soul as memories crept in. 

This was her Maestro. 

He had honed her voice with fierce intensity since she arrived at the Opera. He made her realize all her dreams could come true, if she only committed herself completely to cultivating her gift. And last night she had reaped the rewards just as he had promised all along.

Yes, his face was horrifying, and she was scared beyond measure, but hadn’t Papa taught her that sometimes you have to look beneath the surface to see the truth?

A leap of faith. Sometimes that was all that it took.

A sigh, a steadying breath.

Christine embraced the body of a cursed Angel fallen to earth and prayed to God she would be able to care for him the same way he did for her.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks to Aldebaran for sorting out my crazy brain. ;-)


End file.
